Separation Anxiety
by PygmyCritter
Summary: Set after 'Alone'. Beth wakes to find herself locked up with two other girls. She's determined not to suffer the same fate as other girls who have come and gone before her. Daryl may be with Joe's group, but he will not give up his search for Beth. 'We all have jobs.' It's what Beth repeated over and over and Daryl's decided his job is finding her.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: After this last episode I wanted to write this, but didn't think I should seeing as how I've got two other TWD stories going. In the end, obviously, I couldn't help myself!_**

* * *

_"Don't be stupid. If Amanda was still alive, she wouldn't be here."_

_"You don't know that!"_

_"Amanda showed up after Sarah disappeared, and did we ever see Sarah again?"_

Beth's eyes opened and slowly adjusted to the dim light, dust just visibly floating in the air. Her head was pounding and she felt sick to her stomach. She tried to move but realized quickly that wasn't going to happen due to the handcuffs that had her attached to a thin metal support post, her ankles bound by a thick layer of duct tape.

"Look who's up." a tall, large framed girl said as she moved forward, unencumbered by any restraints. Beth guessed she was around her age, maybe a little older. Obviously more athletic.

"Where am I?" Beth asked, her voice low, her throat so dry it hurt.

"A place that will make you wish real soon that you were dead." the girl tilted her head.

"Where'd they get you from?" the other girl asked as she slowly came forward, hanging back far enough that Beth couldn't make out more than a short, plump figure.

"Funeral home." Beth groaned as she tried to move her hands around. Daryl! She'd left him to fend off all of those walkers on his own. For all she knew he was dead. She took a deep breath and refused to let herself believe that. If anyone could make it out of that mess, it was Daryl.

"That's where they got me." the short girl moved back and sat down. "I haven't seen my dad since then." her voice became low and she sounded so hopeless.

"He's dead." the tall girl continued to watch Beth with an odd fascination.

"Shut up, Abby!"

"A sixty-two year old with a bad heart." Abby turned to look in the other girl's direction. "Just accept it, Nicki."

Beth just stared at the two and tried again to free her hands. "I've gotta get out of here. I've gotta find Daryl."

"You're cuffed." Abby moved away. "You're screwed, like us."

"Why aren't you chained up?" Beth asked as she cringed in pain as she tried to pull her hand through the cuffs.

"We know better than to run." Abby sat down across from her.

"Who's Daryl?" Nicki asked, her voice giving away that she'd started to cry.

"A friend."

"If he was at that stupid funeral home, he's dead." Abby informed her. "They get people in, get them eating and letting their guard down, then they set rotters on them."

Beth stopped struggling for a minute and just stared at the other girl. "You were there, too?"

"They set it up for that reason." she nodded. "Pretty obvious now, but at the time we were just so tired and hungry."

"Yeah, well, Daryl isn't dead." Beth knew he had made it out. And more than likely, he would be looking for her.

"You get a couple of days before they'll start on you." Abby ignored Beth's words and got to her feet.

"Start on me?" Beth stared at her wishing there was more light.

"Like I said, you'll be wishing the rotters would get you after a while."

"If it's that bad, why not run?" Beth asked.

"Try running, get caught and you'll see." Abby paced around the room.

"Why do they want us?" Beth asked, fearing the answer.

"They think they're going to restart the human race." Abby laughed. "Those freaks think they're the ones who should be doing that."

"Restart..." Beth let the words sink in and hoped she wasn't understanding the other girl correctly.

"They're men who need women to make babies." Abby's voice dripped with disgust.

Beth's heart dropped at those words. She could not let herself be used by these men. "Help me get these off." she begged.

"I don't have a key." Abby pointed out. "No key, and it's not like they leave tools down here."

"I won't let them touch me." Beth said as she looked around and as far as she could tell, Abby was right. The room seemed to be empty save for the three girls.

"It happened to us, why should you be any different?"

"Because I won't let it happen." She was determined to stay true to her word. She could not and would not let them touch her. She would find a way out and she would find Daryl. After that, they'd figure out a way to find Maggie and the others.

Their attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of a door opening. The light poured through, hurting her eyes but Beth could finally see that they must be in a basement, quickly looking around, she saw that the room really did seem barren. Out of the corner of her eye she could see planks of wood that appeared to be covering a window, bits of moonlight seemed to be peeking through. Her attention was brought back to the stairs as the sound of footsteps on creaking wooden stairs made her skin break out in goosebumps.

A man, medium height and weight appeared carrying bags in one hand and a few bottles in the other. "Here we go, ladies." his thick southern accent made it hard to understand him completely. "Dinner is served." he tossed a bag down at Nicki's feet and handed her a bottle, the same for Abby. He stopped in front of Beth and knelt down. "Hi there, darlin'." he smiled, displaying a couple of missing teeth and a beard that would make Rick's look good. "Hopin' you'd wake up soon." he reached forward and moved a bit of her hair from her face. Being attached to the post made it impossible for her to move away from him. "Pretty girl, ain't ya?" he chuckled. "Always liked blondes."

Beth shied away from him and tried to move herself to the side. He set the bottle and bag on the floor and smiled at her. "Don't be shy now, sweetie." he said as he moved with her. "We're gonna be gettin' to know each other real well soon."

"Where's Amanda?" Nicki asked from across the room.

"None of your business." he got his feet and moved to the other girl. "You don't need to know what all goes on 'round here."

"I just wanted to know..."

"Forget about it." he headed back towards the stairs. "Eric will be down for you soon." he informed her before disappearing up the stairs.

"Eric?" Beth asked, wanting to scrub her entire body with a wire brush and boiling water. The smell of the man lingered in the enclosed space.

"He's the one who's laid claim to our little Nicki." Abby opened her bag. "Chex mix again."

Beth stared at the bag in front of her and found she had no appetite as she still felt sick to her stomach. The bottle was different. She wanted to open it, but he'd not taken the cuffs off her. "A little help?" she asked.

"Don't drink it all at once." Abby said as she held the bottle to Beth's lips. "Eric might or might not bring us something else to drink when comes for Nicki. Make it last."

Beth stared across at Nicki who sat just clutching her bottle and stared off into space. She began rocking back and forth a bit, her lip trembling. She had to find a way out. She'd cut her hands off if she had to, if she could. She was determined not to be a part of their sick plan. She would get out and she would find Daryl. She had to.


	2. Chapter 2

As Daryl stared into the fire before him, the sound of the voices of the other men in the group seemed distant. He was still numb after what had taken place at the funeral home but he was determined he would continue looking for Beth. He was actually determined to find her, not just search for her. It was his fault. A brief moment of complacency on his part and he let his guard down. Not only was he himself damn near killed, but Beth had also been taken. He didn't know who had taken her or why and that gnawed at him. He'd run all night, and if his legs hadn't given out on him as he came to that fork in the road, he would have continued to run. He was such a damned idiot. How could it not have occurred to him to look out the door before opening it to that horde? One minute he was talking to Beth, making plans for them to stay there, stay safe, and the next he was fighting for his life. All because he didn't think to make sure the coast was clear before opening a door.

It was all his fault.

"You paying any attention?" Joe asked as he watched Daryl over the crackling flames.

"Huh?" Daryl forced his attention from the fire.

"We were trying to decide which direction to head next." Joe leaned back against a rotting log. "Asked your input, but you seemed to have checked out."

"I gotta look for that car." he said gruffly.

"What's your obsession with that car, man?" another of the men asked.

"I'm lookin' for someone." was his short answer. He wasn't going to go into who was in that car or why he was hellbent on finding them. It was none of their business.

"Your woman?" the man smiled. "She good lookin'?"

He fixed the man with one of his Daryl glares but said nothing. He looked down and realized there was a metal camping plate in front of him, a bit of snake and some overcooked beans sitting on it. He didn't feel like eating, though he knew he had to. He had a search to carry out and he would need strength for that. Picking the plate up, he slowly took a bite of snake. The last time he had snake Beth had announced her mission to find her first drink. That day had been a long one, but in the end it had actually turned out to be a good one. Part of him had hated her for her insistence on going in search of booze, her constant badgering and finally that stupid drinking game. The mention of jail had hurt. So many had looked at him and saw nothing but a white trash hick, and he feared they were right. But her? He thought her better than that until she said that. He had come to understand she meant nothing by it, but still stung. Watching that house go up in flames felt good though. It had felt as though he was doing away with his past, the part of his life that held nothing but painful memories and for that he was thankful to her. Though he was determined to keep her from drinking too much for fear she might want to set fire to something else.

"Cars travel on the road." Joe reminded him, still observing the other man. "Hard to track."

"Gotta be a house or somethin' they were takin' her to." Daryl scooped up a drying chunk of beans with his fingers and groaned when he realized they'd gone cold.

"So there is a woman." someone whistled. "We should find her, could be fun when we do."

"If I find her, none of you are gonna get anywhere near her." Daryl looked up and looked around as he got to his feet.

"We share what we got, dude."

"Not her." he picked up his crossbow and headed off to be by himself. He wasn't in the mood for people. He needed to think, to clear his head and figure out how the hell he was going to find her. At this point whoever had snatched her would be so far ahead, and he had no way of knowing where they'd taken her. He felt like he'd gone back in time, when he was searching for Sophia. This had to turn out differently. Beth had to be alive.

* * *

Footsteps descended the stairs again, but this time a tall, muscular and intimidating man approached. He winked at Nicki as he walked past her. "Give me a sec, sweetie." he strode over to Beth as she tried to free her feet of the duct tape that held her ankles together. "Roy said you were awake." he knelt down and grabbed her chin. "Yeah, get you cleaned up and you'll be good."

Beth shook his hand free and stared at him, the smell of what she could now recognize as moonshine was making her feel even more ill than she already had been. "Let me go."

"You all say that." he laughed, the smell grew even stronger as he slurred his words, his body swaying back and forth a bit as he stooped in front of her. "Doesn't work, does it girls?" he looked back at Abby.

"No." she said quietly, all of her anger and bravado that she showed earlier disappeared when their captors were around.

"We'll get you cleaned up and we'll have a bed for you." he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and slowly and unsteadily got to his feet. "Okay, baby, let's get goin'." he pulled Nicki to her feet. "See ya later, ladies." he winked at Beth and Abby before leading Nicki up the stairs, closing the door behind them. The sound of the key turning and locking them in seemed so loud.

"You gotta help me get this tape off!" Beth hissed, not wanting her voice to drift to the floors above them.

"Now that he's taken Nicki.."

"If you help me we might be able to get up there before he does anything." Beth argued. "He's drunk, we might get lucky and he's too drunk to do anything."

Abby stared at her for a moment, having to think about it. She didn't want Eric or Roy touching her again, she hated them and she wanted to be out of that damned basement. Looking at Beth she wasn't sure if the scrawny blonde could actually get them out of there. "What's your plan, blondie?"

"Can you reach that window?" Beth nodded to the spot that was covered by wood.

"Probably." she nodded.

"Okay, if you can get this tape off me, then maybe one of the nails can be used to pick the lock on the handcuffs." she was trying to think of some way to free her hands. The nails that held the wood in place were the only thing she could think of.

Abby crawled over and began picking away at the tape. "Wish I had a knife." she groaned.

"So do I." Beth watched eagerly watched as the tape dwindled and blood flow was returned to her feet. "Thank you." she whispered.

"So after this, what's the plan?" Abby asked as she got up and moved to the window. Stretching, she was just able to reach and began to pull at the lowest plank. The wood felt damp and she could feel a tiny bit of air on her fingers. She could only assume that the window the planks covered was broken. "It's getting loose." she quietly groaned as she continued to wiggle and pull at the wood.

Beth stared at the door almost expecting the man she assumed was Roy to come down any second. Turning her attention back to Abby, she wanted squeal with delight as the wood came free and Abby quickly caught one of the nails before it hit the floor. She turned herself to give Abby better access to the cuffs.

"It's not working." Abby whispered as she tried to jimmy the lock open with the lightly rusted nail. "I can't get it to bend the right way."

"Damn it." Beth sighed. Looking around she saw nothing else that she could use. Leaning against the post, she started moving her hands around again frantically. She bit her lip from crying out loud and cringed at the feel of the tight cuffs tearing into her flesh.

"Your thumb." Abby watched uncomfortably as Beth worked.

The sound of footsteps above them urged Beth on, desperately she tried to squeeze her left hand through. She took a deep breath as the cuffs caught on her thumb and she continued to force the unwanted bracelet over that stubborn area of her hand. "Shit." she hissed as she felt blood begin to coat her wrist and hand, making the cuffs move a little easier, but they still got stuck on her thumb. Taking a deep breath, she turned her head and bit into her shoulder as she forced the left cuff down, tearing her skin even more. Suddenly, an intense pain shot through her hand and arm as she felt a faint snapping sensation in her hand. With a bit more wriggling, the left cuff finally fell free.

"Oh my god." Abby stared at her not able to believe what she'd just witness. Beth fell to the ground and began to cry as she clutched her newly freed left hand to her chest. "That was just disgusting." She felt slightly angry and ashamed of herself for not doing anything sooner. After a time, she just felt as though there was no point in trying. She was just hoping for the death she felt would be coming soon.

"Hurts like hell." Beth shook. She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth for a minute, trying to get the pain under control. "Damn it." she took another deep, ragged breath. "Is there any glass in that window?" she asked as she tried to stifle her cries.

"Yeah, some." Abby stared at her as she slowly returned to the window. "Why?"

"Take off your shirt and get some of the glass, we can use it as knives." she got back to her feet, still feeling a bit shaky.

"And how do we get out?"

"We'll get him to come down here." Beth tried to catch her breath. Her left hand would be useless to her, luckily though, she was right-handed.

"How do you know how to do this stuff?" Abby removed the ragged flannel shirt she wore over the top of a holey t-shirt.

"Some of the people I lived with." Beth replied. "And a little bit of just winging it to be honest."

Abby wrapped her hand in her shirt and gingerly removed what remained of the broken window. "A couple of pieces should be usable."

"Do you mind ripping up your shirt so we have a way to hold the end of the glass?" Beth asked as she found herself more in control. There would be time to cry and complain about pain once they'd gotten out of there.

"It's ripped up anyway." Abby began tearing the fabric apart.

"How many of them are there?" Beth took a bit of the shirt and tightly wrapped it around one piece of the glass. It would work for at least one or two strikes, but they'd need better weapons.

"Three, but the one guy isn't around much." Abby watched Beth and repeated the steps with the glass and shirt. "It's just those two freaks right now."

"Okay then, it's even." Beth suddenly wasn't sure about her plan.

"I've never killed anyone."

"Neither have I." Beth admitted. "Just walkers."

"I've never even killed one of those."

"Just remember what they've done to you." Beth advised. It would do no good to see these men as people. She knew there were good people left, but Eric and Roy were not among them. "Ready?" she asked.

"I guess so." Abby shrugged.

"Just remember what they've done to you." Beth repeated once more before moving to the other side and stopping at the bottom of the stairs and motioning for Abby to stand across from her. With another deep breath, she began to scream.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey!" Beth screamed. "Let me out of here!" she looked over at Abby who stood holding her bit of wrapped glass so hard Beth was afraid she was going to break it. "Okay?" she asked as she clutched her own, hoping she knew she was doing.

Abby simply nodded as the sound of footsteps stopped at the door at the top of the stairs. The sound of metal on metal could be heard and soon they could hear a key being turned. Each girl took a deep, steadying breath as the door opened and the footsteps continued down the stairs.

"What the hell's going on down there, Roy?" Eric's voice drifted down.

"New girl's makin' noise, I'll take care of her." Roy replied, stopping on the stairs as he turned and spoke. "I'll sit down here and deal with the damned girls while you have fun." he muttered as he continued down the stairs. "You need to shut up..."

Abby and Beth moved quickly, their glass knives sinking into his neck and shoulders as he fell to his knees. When he went down, Beth made for the stairs but stopped when she saw Abby continue stabbing the man who was now on the floor. Climbing on top of him, she used both hands to bring the shard of glass, now stained red and dripping with blood, down into him over and over. "Bastard." she hissed as she continued her assault. "Filthy coward." she quickly unclasped the gasping man's belt and unbuttoned and then unzipped his pants.

"Abby." Beth whispered. "Come on, we still need to get Nicki." she watched in shock as Abby made quick work of castrating the prone man, his would-be screams dissolving into nothing more than a wet gurgling sound. One of Abby's frantic thrusts had sent the glass into his neck.

With a few swift kicks, Abby allowed Beth to finally pull her away. "I should put it through his head." she wiped the blood that splattered her face with the back of her hand, smearing it and making it look like war paint.

"Leave him." Beth urged her. "He'll turn and we can use him. We'll lock the door 'til we're ready to go." she dug around in his pockets to see if she could locate the keys to the car that she had been forced into, but with no luck.

"Feed Eric to him." Abby smiled as she followed Beth up the stairs, feeling vindicated, at least for the moment.

"Come on, we'll get the other one..."

A loud crash from upstairs startled them and in seconds muffled screams followed. Beth waved to Abby and they quietly moved up the stairs. The second to last step creaked as she put her weight on it, causing her to stop quickly. She was hoping to catch Eric off guard, and noisy stairs giving her away would not help. When it appeared that Eric was not coming to inspect the sound, she moved on, eagerly stepping onto the narrow landing at the top of the stairs.

"Think it's funny, bitch?" Eric was screaming. "You bitches always think it's funny, don't ya?" the sound of things being quickly moved around on the wooden floor filled the air and soon was joined by the sound of breaking glass and Nicki sobbing.

"Gets drunk, can't get it up and takes it out on whoever he has with him." Abby trembled as she moved to the side of the door. She waited for Beth to get into position on the other side of the door before knocking.

"What the hell do you want now, Roy?" Eric flung the door open and Abby rushed forward, burying the glass deep in his eye. Her frenzied attack continued until Beth used her one good hand to try to pull her off. "Let me go!" she shook her arm and flung the smaller girl aside.

"Stop." Beth ordered her as she got back to her feet. "He's not going anywhere, we can leave him."

Nicki was buried behind pillows on the bed, naked and weeping. "What are you doing?" she croaked.

"We're getting out of here." Beth looked down and felt confident that Eric was going nowhere. "Get her dressed, grab a few blankets." she quickly searched Eric's pockets and came up empty again. "Damn it." she sighed and looked at the other two. Abby seemed to have calmed down quickly. She was carefully and gently dressing Nicki who was sporting fresh bruises. "I'm gonna go down and look for weapons and those keys."

Beth headed down stairs still clutching her make-shift knife and it soon dawned on her that she had barely had to use it. The rage that had built up in Abby had kept her own hands nearly clean, though she wondered how Abby would feel once she calmed completely and was free from the house and her captors. She saw an old, stained backpack by the front door and picked it up and rifled through it. She made a face when she realized it was full of old smut magazines and she quickly emptied it and began tossing anything she thought would be useful into it. She found a few knives on an old dining room table and set her glass one down and tucked one of the real things into her belt. She set a couple aside for the others and continued her search.

"Any luck with the keys?" Abby asked as she slowly made her way down the stairs arm in arm with a shaky Nicki, a few small blankets tucked under her free arm.

"No." Beth shook her head. "Still looking though. Found a few knives, there on the table for you."

Abby set Nicki down in a nearby chair and tossed her dripping wet bit of glass aside. "I'm gonna look for some food." she informed Nicki.

"Where the hell are the keys!" Beth groaned as she opened every drawer she could find. "Damn it!" she hissed as she hit her injured hand while reaching for a basket that sat atop the fridge.

"You okay?" Abby asked as she tossed every bit of canned food she could find into a large black garbage bag.

"Just smacked my hand into the fridge." Beth replied through gritted teeth.

"Can't you hot wire the car?"

"I don't know how to do that." Beth shook her head.

"I figured you would know how." Abby set the bag by the front door.

"Why?"

"If you can mess up your hand like that getting out of cuffs.." she shrugged.

"Yeah, well unfortunately, no one ever taught me that." Beth made one more search of the place but still could not find the keys. "I wish they had." she wondered briefly if Daryl knew how to hot wire a car. Somehow she felt that might be something his brother had passed onto him. "We're gonna have to walk."

"I'm not sure how far Nicki can go right now." Abby looked doubtful.

"We don't have a choice." Beth stared at the third girl and worried. "You said there was a third man and he could come back any time."

"Where would they put keys?"

"We can check the car on the way out, but I think we're on foot." Beth picked up the bag of assorted weapons, knives, one or two handguns and a fire poker she had propped by the front door. She didn't want to use the guns unless it was life or death, and since she couldn't find any bullets, she hoped it didn't come to that.

"Great." Abby hefted the bag of food and stuffed the blankets inside.

"You get her out and I'll unlock the basement." Beth instructed her new partner. She watched as the two disappeared out the door and turned the brass key in the old lock as quietly as she could. She didn't know if Roy or Eric had turned, she didn't hear any noise, but she couldn't be too careful. Quickly she opened the door and ran out the front, securing the door behind her.

"Car's over there." Abby nodded to her left as she held Nicki's hand.

Beth led the way over, her knife drawn. She tried one door after the other only to find them locked. Peering into the windows, she saw nothing. She'd held a faint hope that perhaps one of the two had left the keys in the car, but no such luck. "We're walking." she informed the others.

"Maybe number three has the keys." Abby suggested.

"In that case." Beth went around and slashed all four tires. "Hopefully that'll slow him down if he tries to use it."

"Which way do we go?"

Beth looked around and tried to remember which way they'd come in. She wanted to retrace the route back to the funeral home. She'd dropped her bag there, but more importantly, it was the last place she's seen Daryl. "That way." she adjusted the straps on the backpack. "Ready?"

"Lead the way." Abby made a sweeping motion indicating Beth was to walk ahead. "This was all your idea."

"Yeah." Beth nodded and started walking. It was all her idea and she hoped she didn't get them all killed. Although, was it worse to be trapped in a house and raped or to head out and risk walkers? She liked her chances against walkers.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for all the positive feedback! I feel the story might start getting a bit darker soon, so beware. **

* * *

Nicki screamed in pain as a walker grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back with enough force she fell ton the ground. She wriggled around in an effort to grab her knife. She struggled to free it from her belt as the walker suddenly slumped on top of her. Looking up she saw Abby standing over her removing her own knife from the walker's skull.

"I think we need to cut our hair." Abby sighed as she helped Nicki to her feet.

"I don't wanna cut my hair." Nicki sighed as she started picking twigs and leaves out of her mess of long, red curls.

"Would you rather be eaten?"

"Beth!" Nicki looked to her as she cleaned her knife.

"Abby's right." Beth shrugged. "It'll give 'em one less thing to grab a hold of."

"Well, I'm not cutting mine." Nicki declared.

"Nicki." Abby sighed as she pulled her hair back in a tattered pony tail holder that was about to break. "It's hair, it'll grow back."

"No." Nicki shook her head.

"Just drop it for now." Beth said quietly to Abby as she took her knife and cut where Abby indicated.

They watched as Nicki took a seat on a large rock and watched them. "She's gonna get caught again." Abby replied as Beth adjusted her own hair and turned around. "She's already slow and easy to get, with all that hair..."

"We don't have time to argue with her now." Beth explained.

"If you say so." Abby lifted her knife. "Sure you want it this short?" she asked.

"The shorter the better." Beth didn't want to cut her hair, but she liked the idea of a walker using her hair against her a lot less. Not to mention the shorter hair would be easier to clean when she ever got a chance.

"Okay." Abby used her knife more as a saw as she took hold of Beth's long hair and hacked it off. "And done." she turned to Nicki, holding up what used to be Beth's ponytail. "You sure?"

"Positive." the younger girl nodded as she grabbed some large twigs from the ground and proceeded to form her hair into a tight bun on the back of her head.

"Great, gives them a nice knob of hair to grab a hold of." Abby muttered to herself as she tossed the hair aside.

Beth stared at her hair laying in the decaying leaves. A sudden thought popped into her head and she scooped up the discarded hair.

"You want a memento?" Abby asked.

"I just had an idea is all." Beth shrugged as she took a few strands of hair and tucked them into the rough bark of a nearby tree. "I was thinking maybe Daryl would see it."

"You still think he's alive?"

"I know he is." Beth grabbed her bag. "Ready?"

"Why are you so sure about that?" Nicki asked as she struggled to keep pace with the two taller girls.

"He wasn't in the house." Beth simply put it.

"So, he could have wandered off after turning." Abby pointed out.

"No, his crossbow wasn't there." Beth argued. "He's not goin' anywhere without it."

"What if the rotters got him after he left?"

Beth turned suddenly, the other two almost running into her. "If he made it out of there, he can make it out here on his own." she smiled and started walking again. "He's done it before."

"And you think he'll find us?" Nicki asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I do." she stopped to place a bit more hair on a nearby tree, hoping that it wasn't just a stupid idea on her part, but that he would actually notice it and make the connection to her. She had complete faith that not only was Daryl still alive, but that he'd find her. She knew he would be looking for her. She remembered how he searched for Carol's little girl when they first arrived at the farm even though everyone else seemed to have given up hope. From what she understood he didn't even know her very well, but he'd made it his personal mission to find her. She felt they had grown close and become good friends in their short time on the road together so she could only hope he'd do the same for her.

* * *

"I see up a house up ahead." Len called back to the others. "Shelter for the night."

"If no one's claimed it already." Joe stopped at the edge of the woods and stared at the house before them.

"We can make 'em share." Len laughed.

Daryl ignored the other man as he continued to walk carefully towards the house, his crossbow at the ready. Len didn't seem to ever shut up and was on his last nerve. "You go in ahead of us."

"Hopin' there'll be some lurkers?" Len asked. "I could clear 'em out in no time if there are."

"Go ahead then."

"Boys." Joe said, sounding like a father trying to stop a fight starting between a couple of his kids. One would almost expect him to follow it up with 'I'll turn this car around if you make me.' "Let's go up quietly and see what we find."

The group moved up slowly, listening for any sounds. Even the tiniest sound set their nerves on edge as they knew any minute they could be surrounded. Still holding his crossbow up, Daryl decided to look around the outside of the house to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises. As he moved around the back and came around the opposite side, he stopped dead in his tracks. The sight of a large car with a white cross in the back window made him feel sick to his stomach. Running up, he looked into the windows and tried the door handles. Locked and sealed tight. He looked around and then ran into the house.

"Someone did a number on him." Joe stared at the walker that lay at his feet, its throat slit open enough that they could see bone.

"Did you search the whole place yet?" Daryl asked as he ran up the stairs where he found Len standing over one in the bedroom. "They the only ones you found?"

"Yeah." Len nodded as he began moving around the room, stopping and picking up a tube of personal lubricant from the floor. "Looks like someone was havin' fun." he chuckled.

"Don't think their partners were." Joe said. "One down stairs had his dick hacked off."

"Shit." Len shuddered.

"You didn't find anyone else?" Daryl asked Joe.

"No." Joe shook his head. "What's gotten into you?"

"That car down there." Daryl headed back downstairs. "That's the one that took Beth."

"That's your girl, right?" Joe asked, trying to remember the name Daryl had mentioned before.

"Yeah." Daryl nodded as he continued his search of the house. He saw two bloodied shards of glass on the table and headed into the kitchen. Blood smeared some of the cupboard doors, drawer fronts and a spot on the fridge. He couldn't find any signs of Beth. "I'm headin' out to search the woods."

"It's dark." Joe watched the other man as he moved around. "Head out in the morning."

"If he wants to go, let him." Len said as he pulled out a chair and plopped down.

"Safety in numbers, not to mention you're our best hunter."

"Beth's out there." Daryl stared at the door. "I think she's hurt."

"If she got away from them, she's doin' pretty good for herself." Joe said. "She know how to build a fire, catch food?"

"Fire yeah, I always caught the food though."

"Cupboards were bare." Len groaned. "I think your bitch took off with the food."

"Call her that one more time." Daryl growled.

"Knock it off." Joe smacked Len upside the head. "The mornin'. We'll head out in the morning."

"Stay here if you want." Daryl moved towards the door. "I'm goin' now." he opened the door and headed out. Beth was out there and apparently injured. He felt it was his duty to keep her safe, and so far he felt as though he'd failed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Do you hear something?" Abby asked as she stopped.

"No." Nicki whispered.

Beth stopped and held her breath for a moment, straining her ears for the sound Abby apparently heard. A few birds chirped nearby and dead leaves rustled on the ground, but beyond that Beth could just barely make out what she thought was the sound of running water. "Water." she replied with a smile.

"Are we near a river?" Abby asked.

"I have no idea where we even are." Beth shrugged. "Come on, we can refill bottles and clean up a bit."

The trio walked along quietly, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. As they got to the edge of the water, Abby and Nicki quickly refilled their bottles and stuffed them back in their bags and began to wash their faces and hands. Beth knelt and filled her own bottle but kept her eye on a small island in the center of the river. As she got to her feet, she stood on tip-toe to try to see how large the area was.

"What are you looking at?" Nicki asked as she grabbed a cup from her bag.

"That island over there." Beth nodded towards the spot. "I was thinking that if we can get over there, it'd be a great spot to make camp for the night."

"How do we get over there without all of our stuff getting soaked?" Abby asked as she sat down. "Our clothes and everything. I don't want to sleep in wet clothes."

"I can build a little raft to carry the bags." Nicki smiled. "My brother was a Boy Scout geek. He taught me some stuff."

"We can take our clothes off, store them in the bags, swim over and set up camp."

"How quick can you make a raft?" Abby asked, not keen on the idea of stripping down and swimming to a tiny spot in the river.

"Get that rope out of the bag and help gather some branches." Nicki started to quickly move around, eager to be helpful and rather excited at the idea that she seemed to have a skill that the other two did not possess.

They quickly set about gathering the materials Nicki needed and watching as she happily set to work. As she moved to the last row of branches, they could hear walkers approaching. "Hurry." Abby whispered.

"I am." Nicki's hands shook as she tied the last knot. "Okay, come on." she tossed the first bag on.

In no time at all, all three girls were stripped down to their rather tatty underwear and had tossed their equally tattered clothes and shoes into one of the bags. Each held onto the raft as they stepped into the water, a shiver running through them as the cold water, soft mud oozing between their toes. As their teeth chattered, they walked along in the water until the floor of the river dropped and they were forced to swim against the current to their destination.

"That is so cold." Abby shivered she crawled on her hands and knees onto solid ground.

"We'll get a fire going." Beth's teeth continued to chatter.

"Think we'll be safe here?" Nicki asked as they all dragged the raft to the center of their refuge.

"I think the current is strong enough any walkers should get swept away." Beth dug through the bags until she found what she'd need to get a fire going. Digging a small hole, she gathered some twigs and leaves they'd tucked away and lit a match. "We've got a fire." she smiled.

"Could we just stay here and wait for your friend to come for us?" Nicki asked as she got dressed and pulled her small blanket out and curled up.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Abby's mind went to the idea that the third member of Roy and Eric's group would find them.

"I don't know either." Beth grabbed a can of peaches and handed it to Nicki. "We'll stay here tonight and talk about it in the morning."

"Franks and beans." Abby groaned as she fished a random can from the bag. "Goody."

"How old are you two?" Nicki suddenly asked.

"About twenty I guess." Abby shrugged. "Haven't really kept track."

"I'm about eighteen...maybe nineteen." Beth added. "How 'bout you?"

"I was thirteen when it all started." Nicki stabbed a peach with her knife. "Guess I'd fourteen..maybe close to fifteen now."

Beth stared at the girl over the flickering flames and realized for the first time how young Nicki looked. When she was covered in the grime from the basement and their trek through the woods, it was had to tell how old she was. After having cleaned up in the river it was obvious she was about the same age as Carl. The thought of the girl being used the way she had been was even more upsetting to Beth.

"You guys look cute with short hair." Nicki chimed in again. "I'm sorry, but I can't cut mine."

"You can, you just don't want to." Abby corrected. "It's just hair."

"You don't get it." Nicki set her can aside. "It's taken me years to grow my hair back."

"Grow it back?" Abby stared at her.

"I lost it during chemo and radiation." Nicki looked up at them, feeling a bit ridiculous for bringing it up.

"Oh." both Abby and Beth muttered, unsure of what else to say. Their attention was drawn to a sound on the river bank. Glancing over, they saw a walker heading their way. They all held their breath as it waded into the water, stumbling a bit as the water became deeper. It reached the spot where the girls had to start swimming and was quickly swept away downstream.

"Looks like you were right." Nicki broke the silence. "You're smart, Beth."

"Thanks." Beth mumbled as she watched the walker disappear from view. "Nice work on the raft."

"And I swam on my own." Abby shook her head. "I'm tired." she unrolled her blanket and laid down. "I really hope no rotters get us in the night."

"We should be safe." Beth smiled as she watched the other two. She'd been worried when she set out that she wouldn't be able to keep herself safe, let alone two others. They seemed to look at her as a leader, and that was a completely new experience for her. She'd always been taken care of, led by her father, Maggie, Rick and Daryl. But now she was on her own with two others who depended on her. She just hoped that she didn't let them down.


	6. Chapter 6

Daryl kept his eyes on the ground as he moved ahead. He'd been following three sets of tracks, all heading the same way as though they were traveling together. One set in particular kept his interest. The one that showed the person walking had an uneven gait. He kept thinking of Beth's injured foot as he moved along. At the time it had been a problem having her injured, but now it seemed to be helping him track her. He followed the tracks along until he found an old campsite. The fire had been started in a small hole, now filled in. A few cans littered the ground and the fire was cold and he could see the tracks continued on. Feeling certain he was gaining on her and whoever her traveling companions were, he quickly got moving again.

Moving along for another couple of hours, Daryl came upon four dead walkers and signs that a struggle had obviously taken place. Inspecting the walkers he could see clean knife wounds through the skulls. A few feet away a clump of hair drew his eye. Picking it up he looked it over and felt a bit relieved to see it wasn't Beth's long, blonde locks. He tossed the dark hair aside and looked around. He suddenly headed for a large tree where tendrils of blonde hair were stuck in the bark. He chuckled to himself as he let the hair fall to the ground and started following the tracks again. He'd come to feel that Beth was more than a babysitter, and this proved him right.

Moving along a bit further, he stopped as the tracks seemed to suddenly end at the edge of a river. He walked up and down the river looking for any other tracks, but finding none he could only assume Beth and her companions must have crossed. He couldn't find any obvious ways to cross without getting drenched and couldn't think of any reason they would want to cross instead of sticking to the river. Unless of course they had been forced to cross. He'd only seen the the three sets of tracks, not including a few random and wandering walker tracks. Unless the walkers or whoever else they were trying were floating after them, he just didn't get it. That was until he focused more on the river and saw a bit of land in the center. It would make sense if she decided to hunker down there for the night, walkers might not be able to get to her, but he worried that people would still be able to target her regardless of the river that separated them.

She was proving to be adept so far. He'd not found either her body or her reanimated shell. He was proud of her and felt sure he'd find her safe and sound even if she was a bit tired and hungry, but most importantly she'd be alive. He wandered back to Beth's crossing point and looked around again. On the far side of the river he could make out a small wooden raft, obviously handcrafted. That was not a skill he'd taught her, so he could only assume that either she was hiding skills, or one of her companions possessed them. He didn't want to have to swim, but he feared that walking until he found a suitable crossing would put him too far behind her, and at that point he was just eager to find her. Groaning, he made sure his crossbow was strapped tightly enough and attached the bag he carried to his crossbow strap and slowly waded into the water.

* * *

"Rain!" Abby groaned as they walked along beside a deep ravine. "The whole point of stripping down to cross the river was so that we didn't get wet."

"Unfortunately we can't control the weather." Beth replied as she wrapped her soaking wet sweater tighter around herself as the rain picked up as if it would somehow help keep the rain out.

"We need to find some shelter." Nicki added as she slipped in a patch of slick mud, nearly tumbling down the side of the ravine.

"We will." Beth said as she helped her to her feet. "Watch your step around here though."

"Walk in between us." Abby instructed Nicki. "We should all keep an eye out for a hollowed out tree, cave...anything."

They walked along keeping an eye out for any nook or cranny where they could try to shield themselves from the pounding rain. The weather had been threatening rain since they'd woken up that morning and Nicki had wanted to stay on the island in the hopes that Beth's redneck friend would appear and they'd be safe. Abby and Beth had taken a few minutes, to humor her no doubt, before they shot down the idea. They both thought it best to keep moving for fear that something other than walkers would happen upon their camp and since they had no shelter on that little strip of land, they would be sitting ducks. She had trouble keeping up with the two older girls and had had a couple of close calls with the edge of the ravine. Luckily the other two kept her from falling in.

They struggled along, at one point joining hands in an attempt to make sure no one fell off to the side. The rain began to fall even harder and soon the sound of hard rain hitting the leaves in the trees above deafened them. Without realizing it, a few walkers appeared from the opposite side and the trio became scattered as each fought to keep her footing in the loose, wet leaves of the forest floor. They became separated as each drew their knives and began to fend off walkers as they seemed to come crawling out of the woods to their left in droves.

Beth sank her knife into the temple of a walker that had Abby pinned before being dragged off by another that was eager to sink its teeth into her flesh. She dropped her knife as she hit the ground and frantically tried to grab anything she could get her hands on as she was dragged along. Her hand hit something hard and without looking to see what it was, she grabbed a hold and swung it into the side of the attacking walker's head. She recoiled a bit when she realized it was a long bone, picked clean by something either animal or former human. Quickly she grabbed her knife and got back to her feet, pain in her left ankle shooting through her leg.

She looked around and saw that there were only a couple of walkers left to be dealt with and moved to help Nicki who always seemed to struggle a bit. Seemingly without a sound, another walker emerged from the trees and Beth was forced to attempt to side-step it. Her feet slipped and she was suddenly falling down the side of the ravine. Without thinking, she through out her left hand and grabbed a hold of a sappling that was growing on the steep hillside. Screaming from the pain in her injured hand, she quickly tried to bring her right arm up to support her weight hanging from the tree. She looked for anything that she might be able to use to bring herself back up as she listened to Abby and Nicki's continued fight.

Beth saw another small tree to her side and braced herself by settling her left foot on it to support her weight, removing some of the strain on her right arm. Finding more footholds and something for her to grab, she struggled to fight her way back up the side of the ravine as the rain continued to fall and making it hard to get and maintain any footing on the steep surface. As she neared the top, a walker suddenly appeared at the edge, reaching for her. She tried to avoid its grasp but had few places to go. As the walker began to lean over a bit more, the ground beneath it gave way and it fell knocking Beth down again. She grabbed a hold of the small tree again and the walker latched onto her boot as it fell past her. She desperately shook her leg trying to knock the walker off of her and soon she realized she had no choice but to try to free her foot of the boot. With her free foot she desperately pulled at the heel of one boot with the toe of the other in an effort to kick it off. The rain made it hard, but after a struggle, the boot finally fell off, sending the walker falling into the deep ravine. She looked down at thing below her as it tried to climb back up to get to its lost prey.

"Abby!" she called out as she tried again to bring herself up. "Nicki!"

* * *

Daryl trudged along, already soaked to the bone when the rain began beating down on him. The tracks were nearly impossible to follow at that point, but luckily he kept find bits of blonde hair tucked into tree bark. As long as he kept his eyes open and stayed alert, he would be able to track her using that alone. He stopped and listened, straining to hear through the downpour. The faint sound of screaming seemed to drift his way and he ran in the direction it seemed to be coming from.

He ran to the top of a ridge and saw two girls fighting off walkers, about seven or eight walkers against two girls. Quickly he let loose a bolt and dropped one walker and quickly joined the fray, smashing the head of one with his crossbow, pulling his knife and making quick work of the next few. He was about to move on to help the girl nearest to him but she motioned to the edge of the ravine. Quickly moving over, he peered over and saw Beth hanging onto a tiny tree that looked like it was about to give way any second. He tossed his crossbow aside and fell to his stomach, leaning over as far as he could trying desperately to grab a hold of her hand.

"Come on!" he screamed as he stretched to his limit. Her feet moved around trying to get a hold so she could support herself, but to no avail. "You!" he called over to Abby as the last walker fell. "Come here."

Abby and Nicki rushed over and cried out when they saw their friend dangling precariously. "Hold my legs." Abby said as she traded places with Daryl. When she was sure he had her, she motioned for him to lower her. She was just able to reach Beth's outstretched left hand. Daryl started to lift her, but she began to lose her grip. As Beth began to slide away, she was able to grab a hold of the collar of Beth's shirt and used it as a makeshift handle to help lift her up.

Beth collapsed as Abby pulled her over the edge, her feet finally able to gain some traction. Trembling, she just lay face down in the leaves, breathing in mud as tried to catch her breath, pain coursing through her body.

"Are you okay?" Abby and Nicki asked as they clamored around her, obscuring her from Daryl's view.

"I am.." she nodded. She struggled to sit up and crawled over to Daryl who sat watching the three. "I told you he'd find us." she turned to Abby before smothering him in a bear hug and knocking him over. "I knew you'd find us." she repeated as he sat staring rather numbly at the back of her head, his arms limp at his side. "Thank you." she sobbed into his shoulder. "Thank you."

"Mmhmm." he grunted as he avoided eye contact with the other two girls.


	7. Chapter 7

"What the hell happened to you?" Daryl asked as he eased Beth off of him and stood up, looking her over. His eyes ran over, seeing her injured wrists and apparently broken left thumb.

"You don't wanna know." Abby said as she looked around nervously. "I don't wanna rush your reunion, but could we pick it up later, ya know, after we've found a place rotters can't eat us?"

"She's right." Beth nodded as she took Daryl's outstretched hand and got to her feet, still a bit shaky from their encounter.

"Can you walk?" he asked as he looked at her foot.

"I'm fine." she put as much weight as she could on her ankle and suppressed a groan of pain. She feared he'd insist on carrying her and that would simply slow them down, not to mention have one less weapon at the ready should it be needed.

Daryl just nodded and picked up his crossbow. "Where were ya headed?" he asked, not sure if they'd had any destination in mind or were simply walking.

"No clue." Beth shrugged. "We got out and we just wanted to put as much distance between that house and us as we could."

"Saw the house." he mumbled as they started walking, keeping a close eye on the blonde next to him. It might have been his imagination, but she looked a little thinner. The circles under her eyes were a dead giveaway that she'd not had much rest, and then there was her hair. A bit ragged and uneven, it still looked pretty good on her. "Why'd ya cut your hair?" he asked, glancing at Abby and seeing she, too, had cut her hair.

"Nicki had a run in with a walker and Abby and I decided it'd be best if we just cut it, give them one less thing to grab." she gingerly stepped over a fallen tree that blocked their path. "Nicki's the younger one." she informed him.

"Hi." Nicki waved back at him before turning her attention back to the path before her.

Daryl nodded her way but didn't say a word. "So?" he asked.

"Creeps." she said in way of an explanation.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked quietly, dreading her answer.

"Not me, no." she glanced at him quickly before looking at the two girls ahead of them.

"They weren't so lucky?" he whispered.

Beth simply shook her head. "But we all got out and, well, here we are." she smiled at him. "You found us."

"You left a pretty good trail." he replied. "Good thinkin' with the hair."

"Thanks." she was proud of herself for that. She knew he'd be looking for her and being the hunter/tracker that he was, he was sure to find her markers. "Didn't have any breadcrumbs to spare, but I had that ponytail."

"So much for having kept our stuff dry when we crossed that stupid river." Abby said as she moved bits of wet hair from her face.

"I'm cold." Nicki groused. "Do you think there's anywhere around here to crash?"

"Hopefully we find something." Beth was eager for a resting place as well. Her foot was becoming nearly unbearable.

"Can you walk?" Daryl repeated his earlier question as he watched her carefully.

"Yeah, of course." she wasn't about to be a burden. "I'm cold though, so hopefully we can find a place to stop for the day."

"Yeah."

"Looks like a clearing coming up." Abby stopped and waited for Daryl and Beth to catch up. "You sure you're okay, Beth?" she looked worried.

"I'm just cold, like you." Beth nodded and wondered if her discomfort was that obvious.

"Hang back a bit." Daryl readied his bow and moved to the front of the group.

Nicki and Abby both looked at Beth for a few seconds before moving after Daryl, each with their knives out as Beth hobbled behind a bit. She hoped the coast was clear. She didn't think she had another fight in her at the moment.

Daryl slowly moved along, alert to any and all sounds. He glanced back and saw the three girls were following, not too far but also not too close behind him. Looking around he realized that they seemed to have stumbled onto a park of some kind. Motioning for them to continue, he headed towards the outline of a roof. He assumed it would either be a pavilion of some kind or perhaps bathrooms. He didn't know which, but a roof over their heads would help shield them from the rain.

"What is that?" Abby asked as the trailing three came stand next to him.

"Picnic pavilion or somethin'." he shrugged. "If it's clear, it's at least a roof."

"We might be able to build a fire." Beth said hopefully as she brought up the rear, moving slower.

"Pay attention, any sound or movement." Daryl told them as he moved back to Beth. "Hop on." he ordered her.

"I don't need you to..."

"You're gettin' slow, we need to move faster." he cut her off. "Hop on." he repeated.

Feeling frail and useless, Beth did as he was told and hopped onto his back and allowed him to carry her along. "I'm sorry." she said, the pain in her ankle and foot easing immediately.

"Ain't gonna do you no good to hobble along, bein' slow." he muttered. "You lost weight." he added as he shifted her a bit.

"Well, I guess that's better than the last time we did this." she tried to sit up a bit, hoping to get a better glimpse at the roofed structure. "It looks like a pavilion." she informed him.

"I'll go up and see if it's clear." he started laying out his plan. "If it is, we'll make camp here for tonight, get you cleaned up and we can all rest."

"You shouldn't go alone." she shivered as the rain continued to beat down on them. "Take Abby with you."

"Did you say my name?" Abby asked, looking back.

"Daryl's gonna do a sweep of the pavilion, I want you to go with him." Beth replied.

"Okay."

"Group leader, huh?" Daryl chuckled as he spotted a large log on the edge of the trees. "Gonna set you over there with the little one, we'll be back."

"Be careful." Beth said as she slid off his back onto the log and motioned for Nicki to join her.

"No shit." he said as he headed off with Abby.

* * *

"Ain't got much for bandages." Daryl said as he wrapped Beth's wrists up with a shirt Nicki had donated, torn into strips.

"It's fine." Beth hissed as he began to set her broken thumb. She looked to Abby and Nicki who sat huddled next to one another by the fire they'd finally been able to start and smiled. So far they'd made it. The mishap back at the ravine was a nearly fatal misstep, but they'd gotten past it. Because of Daryl. Beth directed her attention to the man in front of her who was now seeing to her wounded ankle. She'd thrown herself into a hug when she saw him, but Daryl being Daryl acted nonchalantly as though they'd been traveling together the whole time. She assumed that it was his usual nature that kept him from letting her know he was happy to see her alive, rather than the fact he didn't care. She hoped it was just his normal stoicism rather than a lack of concern.

She knew he was concerned though. He could have just tossed her the strips of fabric or had one of the other girls help her rather than do it himself. He wasn't demonstrative and she accepted that. Not everyone was like her, pretty much wearing their heart on their sleeve. Many were just like Daryl, quiet, letting their protective actions speak louder than their words. He wasn't the type to come right out and tell Rick or Carol that they meant the world to them, but they knew it anyway. She wondered how many people were on the same level as Rick and Carol and if she might someday be with them. That would be an honor.

"Thanks." she said. "I went back to the funeral parlor." she informed him as he finished wrapping her foot. "That's how I knew you were still alive."

"Who were they?" he asked, busying himself in folding the spare bits of fabric. "Why'd they take ya?"

"According to Abby, they were some idiots who.." she took a deep breath, finding it hard to think about what might have happened to her. What had happened to her new friends. "Repopulation."

"Ya gotta be shittin' me." he knew people were doing some sick things to survive, but kidnapping girls to help repopulate?

"Unless Abby was lyin', but I don't think she was." she glanced back and saw the other two were asleep, the hubcaps and tin cans strung up around the pavilion acting as shabby wind chimes as the rain continued.

"And both of them were..."

"Yeah." part of her wished she'd gotten there sooner, perhaps she could have kept them safe. Or, perhaps she'd have ended up used just as they had been. That idea made her feel sick. She looked back to Daryl and saw that he still wasn't making eye contact with her. "I'm okay, Daryl." she whispered. "We're both here and safe."

"I know." he took a deep breath. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he'd let her down. And knowing what had almost become of her made it worse.

"Don't feel guilty." she leaned forward and pulled his head up so he was forced to look at her. There were times she felt as though Daryl's emotional age had never caught up to his physical age, but he had good reason for that considering his background. "There was nothin' you could have done. You were tryin' to keep me safe in that house, you couldn't have known that car was waitin' out there."

"I let my guard down." he resisted the urge to look at the ground again. "I just opened that damn door..."

Beth got to her feet and limped to his side and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. "You can't blame yourself." she whispered as she rested her chin on the top of his head. "You didn't know."

Daryl just sat motionless as she held him. Part of him wanted to return the hug, but his arms sat in his lap like lead weights. "I'm sorry." he whispered back. The apology was meant for more than just the incident at the parlor. Whether or not she understood, it was also an apology for having let her father down, for allowing Hershel to be taken from his daughters. That was guilt he would always carry with him, and letting his guard down and Beth be taken away would stay with him as well. She'd been right that night in the distillery shack. One day she would be gone and he'd miss her so bad. He wouldn't tell her, but he had. He'd lost a true friend the night she'd been taken.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Obviously I'm going a slightly different way than the season ended. Hope no one minds LOL**

* * *

"Where are we going?" Nicki asked as she piled her hair on top of her head again, trying to keep it in place and out the way.

"We'll try to get the the tracks." Daryl mumbled as he stepped over a fallen tree, keeping an eye out to see if Beth needed help over it.

"And after that?" Nicki asked.

She'd been full of questions that morning and it was driving Daryl insane. He'd always thought Beth was too chatty, but she was beginning to look mute in comparison. The taller girl, Abby, was okay. She didn't say much and was willing to get her hands dirty. Beth was getting better everyday with her tracking skills, and once her hand healed up, he'd try again to train her with his crossbow. Nicki, however, was another story. Nice enough kid, but she'd be better if she learned to be quiet.

"We follow 'em."

"And.." Nicki started to continue with her questioning when Beth grabbed her shoulder, getting her attention and shook her head.

"Just follow him." Beth smiled. "If you're too talkative, he gets grumpy."

"He's not the only one." Abby smiled back. "Love ya, kid, but you need to stop talking once in a while."

"Sorry." Nicki fell silent, pouting a bit. She was the only child in her family and was a bit spoiled. "Just follow him?" she asked Beth.

"Just follow him." Beth nodded.

"We'll take a break here." Daryl announced as he stopped and took a quick drink, handing his canteen to Beth. "A few minutes to catch our breath, then we'll move again."

Nicki opened her mouth to ask another question but stopped herself in time and took the bottle Abby offered happily. "See, you can do it." Abby laughed.

"Don't suppose you know how much further it is?" Beth asked Daryl as she sat on the ground and rested against a large, old oak tree.

"How am I supposed to know?" he asked. "Gettin' tired?"

"No, just think a change of scenery would be nice is all." she replied. "Kinda sick of being in the woods."

"You headed this way." he pointed out to her.

"Well, yeah, I guess so." she laughed. "Thanks for not gettin' snappy with Nicki."

"Just keep her from talkin' too much, 'kay?"

"I'll try, but I make no promises." she pressed her hands over her stomach to try to muffle the sounds of it growling. In order to make the little food they had left last, they'd decided to eat in the mornings only.

"When we stop for the night, I'll head out and see if I can find somethin' while y'all set up camp." his own stomach was threatening to rumble as well. "Hopefully a rabbit or squirrel..hell a damn snake'd be good 'bout now."

"Even some edible berries." Beth grimaced as her stomach clenched. "Just a little more than what we've been gettin'."

"Keep your eyes open for anything while we're walkin'." he looked around at their group. It was hard enough to be moving along and finding enough to eat when it had just been the two of them, but now they had two more mouths to feed. "Okay, let's get movin' again." he ordered the group, holding out a hand to help Beth back to her feet.

After walking in silence for a while, the group could see a clearing at the edge of the woods and soon railroad tracks came into view. "Maybe we can find a building of some kind to stay in tonight." Abby said as she hissed at a sharp rock stabbing her in the foot through her thin-soled shoe.

"Sleeping while surrounded by walls." Beth smiled. "Sounds nice."

"Be even better if I can find us somethin' to eat tonight." Daryl added as he watched from the corner of his eye as Beth moved off the tracks in favor of a flat, grassy strip that ran parallel to them.

"Food!" Nicki smiled. "I'd love a pizza right now."

"Fried chicken." Abby laughed. "My grandma used to make the best fried chicken."

"Stop talkin' 'bout food." Daryl snapped.

"Sorry." both girls rolled their eyes behind his back as he led the way.

"I see somethin' ahead." Nicki said as she moved past Daryl. "_Glenn, go to Terminus, Maggie_." she looked back. "What's 'Terminus'?" she asked as Beth ran up.

"Maggie!" Beth stared at the sign. "I knew she wasn't dead!" she punched Daryl in the chest as he and Abby joined them.

"Don't know what it is." he stared at the sign.

"Neither do I, but that's where Maggie's heading." Beth smiled but couldn't help but feel a bit hurt by the fact that the message had been left for Glenn and yet Maggie hadn't even thought to add her name.

"Who's Maggie?" Abby asked.

"My sister." Beth said, looking away from the sign.

"And Glenn?" Nicki asked.

"Her fiance." Beth was relieved to see the message from Maggie, but those nagging feelings of hurt and annoyance wouldn't go away.

"Does she think you're dead?" Nicki asked as she inspected the sign and glanced over at a walker whose entrails were sprawled across the ground, large drops of blood leaving a trail from the body to the sign as Maggie obviously moved back and forth once or twice.

"I don't know." Beth wanted to change the subject.

"Well, we're on the tracks, we can head that way, too, if you want." Daryl said as he shooed the girls along, eager to not just stand in one place for too long.

"I know your sister is there, but I'm not so sure." Abby said as she fell into step with Nicki at the front.

"Why?" Nicki asked as she kicked rocks as she walked along.

"Seems too good to be true." Abby shrugged. "Besides, if they let just anyone in, is it safe?"

"We'll scope it out before we go in." Daryl informed them. "Don't wanna just walk into a damn trap.

"Hope Maggie keeps that in mind." Beth mumbled.

"We won't make it there tonight though." Nicki sighed.

"Along the tracks we should find some buildings, hopefully one of them will be safe to stay the night in." Beth felt Daryl staring at her, but when she glanced up, his focus was fixed on the tracks ahead of them.

She'd been hoping for the longest time that they'd find signs that the others had made it out, and there she'd literally found a sign from her sister, but she couldn't feel completely happy about it. It was stupid that she was letting the omission of her name from a quick note written in walker guts get her so down, but she couldn't help it. Was Maggie on a single-minded mission for Glenn and Glenn alone? Did she really have so little faith in her own sister that when they were separated, she automatically assumed Beth was dead back at the prison? Glenn had been near death just a few days before the prison fell, but Maggie seemed convinced that he'd survived. But Beth who was perfectly healthy, fighting at her side just moments before could not have possibly made it?

"...safe, then I can head out and see if I can find us some dinner." Daryl's voice suddenly invaded Beth's thoughts as she looked up and realized they were heading towards a small metal building, probably just a shack used by railroaders for storage of some kind she assumed. She truly didn't know or care. It was shelter, that's all that mattered to her.

"Okay." she nodded, trying to sound as if she'd been listening the whole time.

"You can't lie for shit." Daryl informed her. "I coulda said little green men had just landed and started dancin' a jig and you'd have said 'okay'."

"Sorry." she took a deep breath and looked up to see that Nicki and Abby were staring at her,too. "My mind just wandered. I'm tired."

"Me, too." Nicki sighed.

"Come on, let's make sure it's clear." Daryl motioned for them to follow. "Open the door." he ordered Abby as he brought his crossbow up. "Stay back though." Abby nodded and did as she was told.

In no time the group swept the dark rather dingy space and found it unoccupied. Nicki tossed her blanket to the ground and collapsed onto it. "I'll help in just a minute." she promised.

"Find somethin' to bar the door behind me." Daryl told Beth as he tossed his own bag down. "I'm gonna see if I can catch somethin'."

"Okay." Beth nodded as she followed him out. "Please be careful, Daryl." she said as she grabbed his arm before he walked down the steps.

"No shit." he shook his head and wandered off. "Make sure to lock that door." he called back.

* * *

It was getting dark and Daryl still had not found anything for dinner. They were getting weak and hungry and they needed something more than a quick bite of cold beans in the morning. He'd caught sight of a squirrel or two, but managed to hit everything around the squirrels but the squirrels themselves. He didn't want to go back empty-handed. He knew none of them would blame him, but he felt he had a job to do in securing them some sort of sustenance and he was failing. He also was craving something more than tinned food. Everyday he was getting a bit weaker, and that was simply not an option for him. He had people to take care of and he needed energy to do that.

He heard voices not too far away, and slowly made his way along and could faintly recognize one of the voices. It was Joe and he didn't sound very happy. Carefully, he moved around in the trees and positioned himself so that he could just see Joe and his men. Sniggering and a few threats were what he could hear, but it wasn't until one of the men moved that Daryl saw who was being addressed.

Rick sat near Michonne with a gun held on him, Carl was being mauled by one of Joe's group. Not being able to sit by and do nothing, Daryl emerged slowly hoping to diffuse the situation if possible.

Everything was a surrealistic blur. The last thing he remembered was telling Joe to let Rick, Michonne and Carl go, that they were good people. Before he knew it, he was on the ground being beaten, Carl's screams and his attacker's laughter drifting to him. A shot rang out, but Daryl was still on the ground, trying to break free of the group. Without realizing what was happening, the men attacking him stopped and everyone was looking at Rick and Joe. It didn't take long to see why. Joe's throat was ripped open and Rick was spitting the missing part onto the ground, covered in Joe's blood. Taking the opportunity, Daryl and Michonne quickly set to work wiping out the remaining group as Rick grabbed a knife and headed to Carl's attacker.

Daryl stood and watched as Rick let the knife sink into the fat man's body over and over again, seemingly pleased with the end result. As the last man fell, they stood staring at one another. In the space of a few short days, Daryl had found a large portion of his group. He wasn't alone, he wasn't the last man standing.


End file.
